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Candle Making Tips |
1) How To Speed Up The Cooling Process
Once you've heated your wax and its completely melted, it can take quite a
while to cool down to a temperature suitable for pouring. We solved this by
taking a large bowl and filling it with cold water. We then put the bottom
of our melting pot into the cold water to help the wax cool quicker. It
helps to stir the wax continuously when you do this.
Note: be careful not to cool the wax too much as it may begin to harden in
the melting container.
2) Getting A Smooth Surface On Your Candles
To get a nice smooth surface on the top of your candles, you need to pour at
a fairly low temperature. The way we determine when to pour the wax is by
how milky the wax looks. As the wax cools, it develops a light skin and
begins to turn milky (clouds up a bit). As you stir the wax in the melting
container, you'll definitely begin to notice the difference. That's the
ideal time to begin pouring the wax into your container.
3) How To Clean Drips Or Spills From Your Container
We noticed that as we poured, we would drip or even spill wax on the inside
or outside of the container. To clean up these little spills we used a damp
paper towel. The towel must be wet or the wax just smears.
4) How To Dissolve Your Wax And Color Chips Faster
Sometimes it can take a while to dissolve your wax and color chips. Stirring
helps. Use your stirring stick to keep the wax in motion and to break up any
chunking that occurs. The wax will dissolve faster.
5) How To Prevent Wax Chunking In Your Melting Pot
To prevent your wax from chunking in the melting pot, put a scoop or two
into your melting pot to start. Once that's melted, stir in the rest of your
wax a little at a time. Let each new amount melt completely before adding
more.
6) How To Get Your Color Chips To Melt Faster
Putting your color chips in the bottom of the melting pot - before adding
any wax - will help them to melt faster.
7) Plugging Container Holes
If you're using unusual containers that have extra holes (such as a small
watering can) you can use modeling clay to plug up the extra holes so the
wax won't leak out.
8) Creating New Scents
Scents are very expensive. To save money on scents and to create new scents
using the few you have, mix them in equal proportions. Use a measuring spoon
or device and keep track of how many parts of each scent you mix together.
Try the new scent out on friends and family before adding it to your
candles.
9) Creating Custom Colors
To create custom colors, mix your colors but record the amount you use. When
experimenting with color, we cut each color chip into either thirds or
halves and keep the amount of wax we use at a constant. We experiment until
we find a color we like. Drip a little of the melted wax onto a white
artists board or piece of paper and let it dry. Once dried, write your
custom formula next to it so you can reproduce the color any time you like.
To darken a color, add its compliment on the color wheel (get a color chart
at any art supply store). To lighten a color, add more wax. If adding wax
doesn't do it, remove some of the melted wax before adding new wax.
10) One Ounce Of Fragrance Will Scent 16 Ounces of Soy Wax
To scent a 3 oz candle you would use 3/16 of an ounce of fragrance. Or to
scent a 10 ounce candle you would use 10/16 (5/8) of an ounce of fragrance.
11) Don’t throw away any melted, or melted and hardened soy wax.
You can re-melt any soy wax you have - either in your microwave, or your
double boiler container.
You can even add scent, create your own unique scent combination or modify
the color of these reused bits of wax.
TIP: if the wax is already colored, use it to make multi-color candles or
tea lights.
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